COVER STORY
17
bered streets survive today.
But Fourth Street, a main
thoroughfare that contributed
to Confusion Corner,
became Ocean Boulevard
in 1959, after construction
of the “Bridges to the Sea,”
now known as the Evans
Crary Sr. and Ernest F.
Lyons bridges.
COMMERCE COMES
Commercial buildings
were constructed in line
with Walter Kitching’s
original store, following the
angle of the railroad tracks.
Kitching’s nephew, Stanley,
and his brother, Broster, had
stores of their own, and George W. Parks erected a general
merchandise store in 1901. It still stands as the Stuart Heritage
Museum. These buildings, as well as several homes and
a hotel, were built before the land was platted as the Danforth’s
Addition to the Town of Stuart.
One of the people who purchased land that was platted as
Danforth’s Addition was former President Grover Cleveland,
who enjoyed fishing vacations in Stuart in the early 1900s.
The land where the Stuart City Commission Chambers is
today was purchased by Cleveland in 1905. Cleveland never
built in Stuart, but because he owned the land at the time of
his death, his will is on file in courthouse records. >>
THURLOW COLLECTION
George W. Parks’ general store, shown in this 1905 photo, was built in
1901 and still stands today as the Stuart Heritage Museum, below.
Former U.S. President Grover Cleveland,
who enjoyed fishing vacations
in Stuart, purchased land in
downtown Stuart in the early 1900s,
though he never built anything on it.
SUSAN BURGESS